People have created some pretty useless inventions. An alarm clock that doesn’t make any noise – it just waves a flag – is pretty useless. You have to be awake and looking at it for it to work! A DVD-rewinder is another pretty useless invention. It gives a sense of benefit for those who remember VHS tapes but it really has no value.
Jesus said that salt that isn’t salty is another useless invention. If it isn’t salty, there isn’t any point. And the reason he talked about salt is what the salt represents: a Christian that isn’t noticed by the non-Christian world is, in some sense, useless as well. Christians are meant to stick out as being different. But not just different. They should be distinctively God-like. That’s how people will come to glorify God. They’ll see His character and His values which are so different from the world’s. When Christians live and speak like God, the world will see His glory! (Listen to the message from Sunday.)
So what are good ways to live out the distinctive values of God in a society that doesn’t share those values? Perhaps it is seeking the good of those who have hurt or offended us (aka, our enemies). That certainly would stand out as a different approach to life! And it is just like God to do that. That’s the Gospel. God's plan is that people would see that in us.
